The flag was donated by the family of Army Spc. Jared Raymond, who was killed in Iraq in 2006.

“You’re not going to get away with it,” Agnes Raymond, Jared’s grandmother said of the crook. “Why don’t you just drop it off at the fire station, no questions asked, or the police station. Or even on our front door. Just don’t destroy it.”

Agnes calls her late grandson “a spectacular kid,” and says her family wanted to give a flag as big as possible in his honor.

The 20-foot-by-30-foot flag weighs about 50-pounds. It flew high atop a pole across from town hall. To get to the flag, the thieves had to cross three feet of shoulder-height shrubs, then scale the World War I monument to pull it down. Because of its size, authorities doubt that just one person was involved in the theft.

The original flag cost Jared’s family about $1,000. His grandmother says her neighbor, a veteran, ordered a new flag Friday morning.

Anyone with information is asked to call Swampscott Police at (781) 595-1111.

WBZ-TV’s Bree Sison contributed to this report. You can follow Bree on Twitter @BreeSison.